I wish I had something historical to say about this, like “the Puritans didn’t celebrate New Year” or “during the Civil War there was a New Year truce,” but I have nothing, so this post will be unusually about the present day.
Oh; well, I can mention the fact that March 1 was New Year’s Day for the Puritans, because Protestant countries did not want to accept the January 1 New Year that the pope reinstituted in 1582, him being Catholic and all. But mostly, I wish everyone well in 2009, a year sure to feature much Puritan-like difficulty, resolution, and joy.
The Historic Present 